We wanted to talk about it. What follows comes from a Gchat conversation between me (raised by two moms in the Northeast) and Todd Dakotah Briscoe, who's gay and from a "red state" and kind enough to share his story.

As we strolled side by side across the restaurant's muddy parking lot, my fiancé threw his arm over my shoulders and pulled me in for a squeeze. Instinct made me want to shove him away from me. Why did I -- even if only for a moment -- feel such terror?